(Above) Nancy Sinatra, her father Frank and Yul Brenner next to unidentified man with high pants. Click image for much larger view.

ABOUT 20 SOME YEARS AGO, I WAS at the beautifully restored Saint Louis Union Station, a marvelous hotel and shopping area in our city. I was just standing there, looking at the craftsmanship and art of the architecture, when I happened to looked up. Walking directly towards me was... could it be?... yes?... wow!... was Gregory Peck.

I had no idea he was even in St. Louis but there he was—all 6’ 3” of this amazing man. I was standing near the stairs, leading to the taxicab station outside. He was just a few feet in front of me when our eyes met, and I smiled and said “Hello Mr. Peck.” In his charming voice and with that amazing sparkle in his eyes, he answered simply “hel-loo.” It was my brush with fame—a memory that was etched that day in my memory.

All of this spurred from these pictures I found of the Golden Age of Hollywood, which began in the 1920s and lasted until the early 1960s. Here are some candid B&W images from Hollywood, caught by photographers when Hollywood was golden and Lindsay Lohan free.